


Oath to Rebuild

by bethany81707



Series: Magdalene von Hresvelg [3]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Abandoning Duty, Flash Fic, Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Meeting, Poor Judge of Character, Rat murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:27:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25163884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bethany81707/pseuds/bethany81707
Summary: Magdalene finds Dimitri in the ruins of Garreg Mach, and tells him just what his quest for revenge has ruined for him this time.
Series: Magdalene von Hresvelg [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1717063





	Oath to Rebuild

Dimitri growled, finding absolutely nothing in the footpaths ahead of him that looked the least bit fresh. He had come searching for the Agarthans, following a rumour that they were doing something here in the ruins of Garreg Mach, and as far as he could tell, he had either been misled or was fed long dead information. He noticed movement in the corner of his eye, and a spear came flying towards it. Dimitri moved up to collect it, smirking at the sight of another dead rat, before realising he wasn’t going to be eating something splattered so completely.

“So… here you are,” a woman called. Dimitri turned, and saw Magdalene looming over him. Her bright red armour had her standing out on the drab stone, and she had the height to look intimidating even without heels- which he noticed she had foregone today.

“Magdalene. What brings you to this pit of despair all on your lonesome?” Dimitri asked.

“Oh, I’m not alone. Hubert’s around here somewhere. I think I saw that shadow over there twitch a few seconds ago, that one’s probably him. I wish he wouldn’t hide in shadows like that, but what will be will be. Anyway… question. I came here because there were rumours that Professor Acacia had been spotted,” Magdalene explained. Magdalene didn’t have many expressions, especially for her positive emotions, but the look of wistfulness in her eyes definitely reflected the sheer respect Magdalene had for her.

“...You didn’t find her?” Dimitri asked. Magdalene’s hand came up to a necklace, one he was sure was new- one bearing a large stone with the mark of Acacia’s Crest of Flames.

“I… I found her…” Magdalene muttered. Dimitri guessed the worst, and decided she did not have to say as much to confirm it. Dimitri did not witness the key moments that gave Magdalene such unshakeable trust in Professor Acacia, but he had heard plenty from his friends in the Blue Lions, and he respected the idea of her. And the fact that her being dead made the overall war against the Agarthans that much harder.

“...What brings you here?” Magdalene asked, having found the time to move on much faster than he believed he would have needed had he been in her shoes.

“Also rumours. There were Agarthans here… and I couldn’t find a trace of them…” Dimitri growled.

“Ah, so it wasn’t just me, then. I felt their presence here too, but you’re, to pardon my bluntness, untalented in magic. You couldn’t have detected them if they were actually here. If it’s any comfort, they probably haven’t been here for… twenty two hours and thirty three minutes,” Magdalene explained. Dimitri gave quite the deep growl, but not at Magdalene. The idea that the Agarthans could conceal themselves so easily… Dimitri had a sudden understanding of just why it was Magdalene treated everyone and everything she came across in Garreg Mach as a threat. For all he knew, there were a lot of correctly identified threats in there he just never heard about. It wasn’t like he followed her around- he had some sense of self preservation.

“Why have you abandoned your kingdom to fight the Agarthans?” Magdalene asked. Dimitri stammered for a second, asking her to repeat the question just to make sure he had heard it correctly.

“You… you’re the one who’s saying not to pursue the Agarthans? Magdalene, it’s  _ your _ family they tortured,  _ your _ sibling they destroyed,  _ your _ burden to bear, and you wouldn’t charge in and destroy those crooks for what they’ve done?” Dimitri screamed. Magdalene waited a little bit for any more screams, before her response.

“I’ve needed the entire army of Adrestia to be mobilised and ready for the slightest hint of Agarthan involvement. I’ve crushed more tiny rebellions than you probably have because I’ve had people to do it before I could get there to see them gone. You were the prince of a country of your own, Dimitri. You could have done the same thing,” Magdalene explained.

“...I notice past tense,” Dimitri said. What had he missed since he left the throne of Faerghus in capable hands?

“Was Cornelia your idea or did you have someone better in mind?” Magdalene asked. Cornelia? The sorceress who had cured a great plague, who had performed such wonderful magic performances to his child self, the woman who had kept Faerghus running while he was in Garreg Mach?

“There is no one better for the title of regent than Cornelia Arnim,” Dimitri proudly proclaimed.

“Yeah, uh… did you screen for Agarthan stones?” Magdalene asked.

“...In my defence, she has a gigantic bust, I didn’t want to be the guy who asked to see it,” Dimitri said.

“She’s taken over Felix, Sylvain and Ingrid, and Faerghus as a whole is sending out a lot of Agarthan propaganda. Frankly, I’m surprised you didn’t hear a peep about it, we know almost full well Cornelia’s got so much control over Faerghus by now that we almost have no choice but to declare war on it. And Dimitri, I owe you for looking after Edelgard when she ran away. I’m not going to declare war on Faerghus without you as a figurehead to stop Adrestia from annexing Faerghus back into itself. I may not have met your friends, but I’ve heard great things from Annette, Mercedes and Ashe. They do not deserve to be kept in Agarthan hands a moment longer,” Magdalene explained. Dimitri shivered. He had indeed received quite a few messages from home, but he had not opened them. He owed it to his own family as well as hers to make sure he saw this revenge through.

“Are you sure you can take Cornelia? What if there’s a trap?” Dimitri asked.

“You’re thinking like I am, that’s good to have. But this time, we have an ace in the hole. Acacia might be gone… but I just might have the secret to her power,” Magdalene said, a mischievous glint in her eye.

**Author's Note:**

> It hurts me so much that I have all these ideas for the Magdalene story White Clouds (or, with this one, the opening of her timeskip) leg, but absolutely no idea how to handle the post-timeskip. With Thales dead in the backstory, Rhea killed in White Clouds and Dimitri on Maggie's side, there's a shortage of antagonists to go around, and as much as I'd like there to be a story where Claude fills that role, I'm just not seeing how Claude and Magdalene can come into conflict.


End file.
